China to loan South Sudan $8 billion, Juba says

China has agreed to loan South Sudan eight billion dollars for infrastructure development, Juba government spokesman Barnaba Mariel Benjamin said on Saturday."It will fund roads, bridges, hydropower, agriculture and telecommunications projects... within the next two years," he said, giving details of a visit this week to China by South Sudan's President Salva Kiir."Details (of the projects) will be defined by the ministers of the two countries and by the Chinese firms in charge of the work," the spokesman said.

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China has agreed to loan South Sudan eight billion dollars for infrastructure development, Juba government spokesman Barnaba Mariel Benjamin said on Saturday."It will fund roads, bridges, hydropower, agriculture and telecommunications projects... within the next two years", he said, giving details of a visit this week to China by South Sudan's President Salva Kiir."Details (of the projects) will be defined by the ministers of the two countries and by the Chinese firms in charge of the work," the spokesman said.

By Carl OderaJUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's army on Monday denied using cluster bombs in its fight with rebels, shrugging off a U.N. report that fragments of the widely-banned explosives had been found.

The last time South Sudan received this much attention was back in July 2011, when it seceded from Sudan after decades of civil war. Now, two and a half years later, South Sudan is in the limelight once again, this time because of domestic fissures - the country has been in the middle of an internal conflict for the past three weeks.

NAIROBI, Kenya — Amid the eruption of violence along ethnic lines in South Sudan, UN investigators discovered two mass graves in a rebel-held city, the United Nations said Tuesday as a possible opening occurred for negotiations to avert civil war in the world’s newest country.
The bodies were found in Bentiu: one grave with 14 bodies and a site nearby with 20 bodies, said UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani.

By Carl OderaJUBA (Reuters) - The South Sudanese army said on Sunday it had repulsed three rebel attacks on its positions near the market town of Bor, which is regarded as a gateway to the capital Juba.Thousands have been killed and more than 800,000 have fled their homes since fighting began in South Sudan two months ago, triggered by a power struggle between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, his former deputy whom he sacked in July.

JUBA (Reuters) - The United States will start evacuating non-essential embassy staff and citizens from South Sudan on Wednesday after army factions clashed, killing up to 500 people and raising fears of a broader civil conflict in the two-year-old nation.

By Carl OderaJUBA (Reuters) - The capital of South Sudan's main oil-producing region is divided between government troops and rebels, the president's spokesman said, after an escalation in fighting that has added to jitters in global oil markets.